ALTAR 



215 



ALTON 



among the oldest mountains in Asia. They lie 

 partly in Russian and partly in Chinese terri- 

 tory, on the borders of Siberia and Mongolia. 

 The Obi, Irtish and Yenesei rivers rise on the 

 north side of the range. Their lower slopes are 

 covered with verdure and the forests of the 

 higher elevations extend nearly to the rounded 

 summits, the highest of these being Byeluka, 

 or White Mountain (11,000 feet). Mining is an 

 important industry in the Russian provinces 

 traversed by this range. 



ALTAR, awl' tur. Taking its name from the 

 Latin altus, meaning high, an altar as it first 

 existed was simply a high place, such as a 

 mound of turf, a flat-topped rock, or some 

 other elevated object, upon which sacrifices 

 could be performed or offerings laid. Altars 

 have been used by nearly all races and from 

 the earliest times, because the idea of winning 

 the favor of the gods or of turning away their 

 wrath by offering sacrifices and bringing gifts 

 to the altar, has had a very important place 

 in the religions of mankind. 



FORMS OF ANCIENT ALTARS 

 (a) In the time of Abraham; (&) altar of 

 burnt-offering ; (c) altar of incense. 



In the course of time altars became more 

 elaborate. The Babylonians built them of sun- 

 dried bricks; the Assyrians, of limestone and 

 alabaster; the Egyptians, of richly-carved 

 stone. The altars of the Hebrews, from the 

 one that Noah "builded unto the Lord" after 

 the Flood, to the magnificent gold-covered al- 

 tar of incense in the Temple at Jerusalem, were 

 a most intimate part of their worship. The 

 altar among the Romans developed from a 

 simple mound of earth or a heap of stone to 

 the great Altar of Peace, built in honor of Au- 

 gustus, and a masterpiece of art; both th. 

 Greeks and Romans reared magnificent altars 

 in honor of their more important gods. The 

 Greeks and Romans employed various shapes- 

 round, square, oblong or many-sided. 



In the Christian Era. When the early Chris- 

 tians began to build their churches they tried 

 to have their altars as different as possible from 

 those* of the pagan Romans. Only one was 

 permitted in each chun h. and the oblong shape 

 was finally adopted. Beneath the altar was a 

 small chapel used for the relics of the martyrs 

 and saints, called the confession. It later be- 



came the crypt (see CRYPT). As early as the 

 fifth century the altars were being adorned with 

 precious stones, and those in the great cathe- 

 drals were often very elaborate. In the Middle 

 Ages there came into use the altar piece, a 

 decoration placed at the top of the altar and 

 at the back, and these were sometimes beauti- 

 fied by master sculptors, painters and carvers. 



At the present time the altar is quite plain 

 in those churches which have the more simple 

 forms of worship. In many Protestant churches 

 there is no real altar, but the rail in front of 

 the pulpit where the worshippers kneel to re- 

 ceive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is 

 sometimes given that name. In the Reformed 

 Episcopal Church the communion table has 

 taken the place of the altar. It is in the Roman 

 Catholic and high Episcopal churches, where 

 the more elaborate ceremonies have been re- 

 tained, that the only stately and very beautiful 

 altars of modern times may be seen. 



ALTDORF, awlt' dorf, or ALTORF, a small 

 town in the canton of Uri, Switzerland, famous 

 as the place where, according to legend, Wil- 

 liam Tell shot the apple from his son's head 

 (see TELL, WILLIAM). Altorf is beautifully 

 situated above Lake Lucerne, amid vineyards, 

 gardens and orchards, and is visited every 

 summer by large numbers of tourists. 



ALT'GELD, JOHN PETER (1847-1902), an 

 American political leader of radical tendencies, 

 governor of Illinois from 1893 to 1897, but 

 above all else, a real friend of the working- 

 man, of the immigrant, of the poor, and a 

 leader in securing prison reform. In this 

 position he became a national figure for his 

 courageous, but at that time unpopular, pro- 

 test to President Cleveland against the use 

 of Federal troops during the great railway 

 strike of 1893 and also for his pardon of the 

 anarchists who were convicted of murder for 

 tin ir share in the Haymarket riot in Chicago. 

 He was of German birth, but at the age of 

 .three was taken to the United States, where 

 he lived on a farm in Ohio until 1863, win -n 

 he enlisted in the Union army. After the war 

 he studied law, became a leader in his profes- 

 sion, and was at one time a judge of the 

 superior court in Chicago. 



ALTON, awl' CUM, In... an important com- 

 JIH rciul center of the state, popularly called 

 BLUFF CITY, on account of its beautiful 

 location on a limestone bluff, which rises 200 

 feet above the Mississippi River. The city 

 was founded in 1817 and was incorporated in 

 1833; its population, largely American, in- 



